Day 2: 20 Facts About You in About

Well this one's kind of dumb. I mean, I don't know what kinds of things anyone would want to know. I try to just write for myself, so I guess I will just do some reflecting.

1. I am a teacher. I have taught 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th grades over the past 4 years. This will be my 5th year teaching. I have known since my first day of student teaching 6th grade that being a teacher is a part of who I am rather than just what I do for a living. I don't love every day of course, but I truly love my students and am passionate about the profession.

2. I'm a May birthday Taurus. I also have my moon in Taurus and 3 planets in Taurus. I am a typical Taurus in many both good and bad ways. I was due to be a Gemini, but I think my tiny soul just desperately wanted to be grounded and practical. I approve; good job tiny baby being soul.

3. I am 29 but I look young. I always get carded and asked where I go to school. It doesn't bother me too much, and I suppose this is the sort of thing one actually appreciates "some day."

4. My fashion sense is kind of... eclectic. I hardly ever match anything. My mom is very stylish and feels that dressing nicely and making a good impression is important. She often looks me up and down but has gotten much better about not commenting on my outfits.

5. I love cats. I desperately want one, but Ben has (alleged) allergies, which are a bit of a source of conflict for us.

6. Ben and I got married under a bridge in a beautiful park in North Portland with only our witnesses present. We told our families after the fact. Everyone was happy for us except his mom was a bit... unsure of what to make of it all. Our reception was a block party. It was cheap and fun and our neighbors came out to dance in the street to the awesome string band we had. It was a great night, even though I don't remember much of it.

7. We met when we were 24 and moved into the same house in NE Portland. I can't believe we have known each other and have lived together for 5 years. I am not sure I remember living without him. Life must have been much less exciting.

8. I really love having flowers in my house. Sometimes I grow bulbs in pots (paperwhites, hyacinth) and sometimes I buy them cut at the market. I can put flowers in my entire house (living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen) for $10 worth of seasonal market flowers from Pike Place. My favorites are peonies, dahlias, garden roses, anything that is fluffy and ruffly and voluptuous. I like arranging flowers, too. The only flowers I don't love are Gerbera Daisies and regular roses. Current flowers:

1. I love to swim. I am a fish in the water. I like diving boards, water slides, rolling logs, pools, oceans, rivers but most of all LAKES. The beach near our house has a raft with a high dive, my childhood beach had a log and I could roll it until I dried in the summer!

2. I am the middle of 3 girls. My older sis is 13 months older, and my younger sister is 16 months younger. We fought sometimes growing up, but pretty much had built in friends. Our favorite games to play together were American Girl Dolls, Breyer Horses, and rollerblading in the driveway.

Off to the farmers market, so part 2 later.

Okay, I am back. I met a friend and her kid at the market. He was a fashion inspiration in an S is for Seward Park retro t-shirt, pink and yellow neon striped shorts, pink girl sneakers and flowered sunglasses. I guess her mom saved a bunch of her littlest sister's baby clothes, so she uses some of them on her boys. It's kind of ridiculously adorable. They still look like boys, just like cool, hipster kids. And really, a few styles look cute ONLY on kids- like crocs, faux-hawks, and hipstery outfits. I'll post a pic friends only.

Not sure I can think of 10 more interesting facts.

1. My parents were poor when my sisters and I were born, but eventually I had a fairly privileged upbringing. We moved to a pretty nice suburb of Seattle when I was 7, went on vacations, had our own rooms in that house, took horseback riding lessons, etc. I am grateful for such a fun and happy childhood. I also cannot see being able to afford that for my kids, not that they won't still be happy going camping and sharing a bedroom.

2. I am a nearly fully recovered type A personality. I was a really good student. I was Valedictorian in high school and got a 1500 on the SAT. I also stressed out way too much about school. If I could tell my high school self a piece of advice, it would be to lighten up. I got my first B as a sophomore in college. It took all of college for me to stop being such a perfectionist and a freak. I still graduated Summa Cum Laude (3.908, not sure why I remember that and then I remember what a freak I was), but with 2 A-'s, 2 B+'s and a B-. It was good for me to get B's.

3. My parents never put pressure on me to get those grades. My little sister and I just were like that. She was the same and is probably even smarter... the one in Med. School. My parents always encouraged us to try our hardest and do our best, but we were never rewarded or punished for grades, or expected to get A's all the time. We just turned out crazy.

4. I am 5'5" and weigh about 130 lbs. I work out from time to time but do not diet or worry about my weight as long as my clothes fit. I mention this only because I used to be really concerned about my body and weight and all that. It was kind of exhausting. I don't really know when I stopped, probably shortly after I started dating Ben. I don't know what prompted it. It's like the older I got, the more relaxed I became about everything, and my weight just sort of evened out and I've been okay with it. I have weighed more and I have weighed less, but I am REALLY happy that it is no longer a concern of mine.

5. Ben told me one time that one of the reasons he loves me is because I am deeply empathetic. He said everyone can be caring if they try to or learn to but that my heart is just big. I think it is true that I feel a lot for everyone and every living thing. I value life and caring for/protecting it.

6. I love reading fiction. I like all genres- classics, contemporary, YAL, historical, fantasy. I do not read as much as I'd like during the year because work is so exhausting. Some of my sophomore girls started a book club which has been fun for all of us because it keeps us reading.

7. I also love car camping! I think it is so much fun to camp out deluxe! Bring on the Sotar pads, the bacon and egg breakfasts, the ladder ball and bocce ball, all the fun things you don't get to bring when backpacking. I'm not so into backpacking.

8. I have done a few cool things, but the coolest was rafting the Grand Canyon- all 300 something miles of it in a 3 week camping/rafting trip. It was a little scary at first, but it was totally amazing. I would recommend it as the best $1500 I have ever spent.

9. I am totally NOT a germaphobe. I refuse to use hand sanitizer, even at school, and will share food or drinks with any of my friends or their kids (I shared my unsweetened iced tea with a toddler yesterday). I usually get a cold in the winter at some point, but I just think people worry about germs too much. They are everywhere people! (Of course I wash my hands at the normal times, etc.)

10. I am not terribly materialistic, but I do think it's important to have a car that I like getting into and driving. When I bought my first car, a 1999 Jetta, I was totally obsessed. I loved it. It eventually started having some issues so I sold it and I drove my sister's bug for a while, but it never felt right or like mine. Now I have a golf and I love it again. Sometimes when I get out of it and walk away, I turn around and check it out because it is so cute. The downside is I worry about it, like getting door dings (I have ONE and I HATE it so hard).

That's all. I hope I don't sound self-absorbed- I would never write this much about myself but for the prompt!